Albany Highway proceeding with Copenhagen Cycle Lanes

The design and land purchases for Auckland’s first “Copenhagen Cycle Lane” project are being completed at the moment, and construction is intended to start mid-2013. This project will be a massive step change for cycling in Auckland, as Auckland Transport and designer GHD are really pushing NZ boundaries with their design.

Combining the safety benefits of both cycle lanes and off-road paths, this project puts a cycle-only, one-way cycle path on top of the kerb in each direction, allowing cyclists to proceed at pace or at leisure. At each intersection, cyclists will be offered the choice of either crossing with the cars (returning to standard cycle lanes for a short section) or diverting onto a raised table or signalised ped/cycle crossing (if you prefer to ride off-road). Also, all roundabouts on the route will be removed. In other words: Seamless high-quality cycling – for 4km from Upper Harbour Highway to Albany Expressway.

We also can now show you a cross section of the proposed default layout:

To CAA’s knowledge, only one Copenhagen Cycle Lane project has been built in NZ (in Christchurch, many years ago) – but that one apparently had lots of critics, as the raised lanes were narrow, and provision at intersections and driveways inconsistent. Everything is pointing to a more mature design finally reaching NZ’s shores.

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